Romney is not hypocritical about Trump's taxes

WThe collusion between Russia and President Trump is considered an impenetrable offense, the Democrats having moved on. Even then, it is not new. They started chasing down their ever-elusive tax returns.

Looking for the highest function of the free world, Trump should have released his tax returns in 2016, and he should do it again in 2020. Nobody buys his equivocal over the audit, and in the void and an election against someone who is not Hillary Clinton, the default voters may have been extremely concerned about whether a megalomaniac billionaire has spent decades playing the US tax code.

But to say that the president should to do something discreetly differs from saying that Congress should make him do it with legislation. It's a lost distinction between some members of the media and commentators who are now blaming Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, for denouncing as "a fool" the Democrat asks the IRS to file Trump's tax returns with the Ways and Means Committee.

It's really very simple. The following three things can all be true.

First, Trump's refusal to disclose his tax returns not only defies important standards, but also implies that he is guilty of something, which should perhaps give voters a break.

Second, Romney strongly opposed Trump on legal issues – voting, for example, to cancel his declaration of national emergency.

Third, Democrats' claim that the IRS will issue Trump's tax returns could very well violate the prevailing law and its precedent, preventing Congress from investigating people without a legislative purpose.

For what it's worth, Trump's legal defense is pretty strong. Although Congress theoretically has the power to demand tax returns from the Treasury without justification, Congress probably does not have the constitutional power to acquire declarations without a legislative purpose, as the Supreme Court has ruled Watkins c. United States. Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote that "there is no power of Congress to expose to expose", and unless Democrats can offer a stronger reason than "Orange Man Bad" ", the demands of his tax returns are just playing politics to the law.

Romney is not a hypocrite for recognizing a difference between law and presidential norms. Since Richard Nixon published his tax returns, every president has found that Trump's refusal to do so reflects a lack of concern for accountability and transparency. But Congress can probably do nothing about it, and Romney has the right to call the Democrats to have attempted to bring McCarthyite tactics for the sole purpose of winning a cheap political victory over the president.